By Mario Orozco

The end of Mar’s Gaming Garage is here, and I can’t think of a better way to put the series to rest than with one of my favorite games. For the finale of Mar’s Gaming Garage, I chose to review Persona 5, a Japanese role-playing game. Persona 5 is one of the most well-rounded games I have ever played and strongly holds the number two spot on my gaming Mount Rushmore.

The story of Persona 5 is both fun and thought-provoking. It follows the main character, Joker, and his group of highschool vigilantes. The group enters the minds of corrupted adults and steals the sources of their distorted desires. Persona 5 is such a compelling experience that perfectly blends together a story of friendship and moral ambiguity. The game does a good job presenting reasons for people to either support or oppose the group’s actions. I personally think they are justified, considering the despicable nature of the antagonists. If they don’t want us messing around in their heads, maybe they should rethink their actions. 

The power system in Persona 5 is creative and unique to the series. Each member of the group has a persona, which is the physical manifestation of their inner psyche. The personas are used for combat, each with their own abilities and designs that reflect the characters they’re associated with. It is such a cool concept and it makes me wonder what my persona would look like — probably just a pile of sentient late assignments.

Another exemplary aspect of Persona 5 is the gameplay. It is split into two different worlds with their own game mechanics; when the characters enter the cognitive world, the game is structured like a dungeon crawler. Each antagonist has a uniquely designed cognitive palace that reflects their twisted desires, which you get to explore to find the root of their corruption. The combination of stealth, puzzles and turn-based combat makes for an engaging experience throughout the entire game. It’s a heist in a different dimension — need I say much more? 

The other style of gameplay is basically a life simulator set back in the normal world. Going to school, spending time with other characters, and even eating ramen are all essential to your success in the cognitive world. The things you do here unlock new abilities to improve your experience in the palaces. It also provides you with some time to catch your breath between bosses and build bonds with the rest of the cast. 

Building relationships with the other characters is one of my favorite parts of this game. As the story progresses, the group naturally bonds and grows to care for each other.  However, if you want to truly understand the cast and their motivations, you need to spend time with them individually to level up your friendship. Each character has their own relatable hardships and traumatic experiences that you help them overcome and work through. This both builds a stronger bond and gives you some bonus abilities to use in the cognitive world. For those of you who are wondering — yes, you can date the other characters, if awkward highschool romance is your thing.

There isn’t a single thing I dislike about Persona 5, so I want to give an honorable mention to the soundtrack. The soundtrack for this game is fantastic and it’s the only video game soundtrack I listen to in my day-to-day life. The music in this game is so good, it deserves an entire review of its own. 

Overall, Persona 5 is one of the best games I have ever played. For the first and final time in Mar’s Gaming Garage history, I’m giving a game a 5 out of 5. I played this game throughout the course of this semester and it took me a total of 132 hours to complete. If you’re interested in role-playing games and have over 100 hours to spare, then I wholeheartedly recommend this game to you.

Thank you for listening to me yap about video games for all this time.If you have any thoughts on this review or the series as a whole, you can email marsgaminggarage@gmail.com. 

Mario Orozco is a writer and assistant social media editor for The Lumberjack. He transferred to Cal Poly Humboldt in 2022 and his favorite game of all time is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild